He Who Bears the Scar
by Story's Blade
Summary: Parts of Bass's past are coming to light. Some of them wish to cause him, and everyone else, great harm. While one only wants to help him heal and move on with his life.
1. The Past

Author's Note: I do not own Mega Man Battle Network or any of the characters of the games. But if a NetNavi design of mine was used in the games, which it wasn't I never even entered one, would I own him?

**He Who Bears the Scar**

Chapter 1: The Past

30 years ago…

Dr. Cossak stood before the board of SciLab scientists to present the fruits of his labor. After taking a few deep breathes, he began to speak.

"Gentlemen, as you know, many devices of this time are operated by NetNavis." Cossak said, "But of course, the Navis are operated by humans. This leads to errors in judgment just as severe as if humans were operating the machines themselves. But I have the solution. I have devolved an independent NetNavi. I present to you…Bass!" A monitor behind Cossak turned on. A NetNavi in a black outfit with two large fins off his head and the forte symbol (the musical symbol that looks like a lowercase f) on his chest was on the screen.

"Greetings gentlemen." Bass said in a cheerful voice, "I am Bass. I am fully able to preform tasks on my own. Including, but not limited to, virus busting."

"A navi who can do virus busting on his own?" One of the SciLab scientist asked, "What are you trying to pull Cossak?"

"It seems that we will have to show them what you can do Bass." Cossak said, "Do you think you preform?"

"I'll be happy to give a demonstration." Bass said.

"Very well." Dr. Cossak said pushing a button on the pedestal; several Mettaurs appeared in the Cyberworld with Bass, "Now watch as even without access to battle chips, Bass is able to delete these viruses quite easily."

Cyberworld…

"Mettaurs?" Bass asked, "Doctor, you know I can defeat foes much stronger than those."

"Be that as it may Bass," Cossak said, "You'll be able to defeat them easily enough that there is no chance of collateral damage."

"You're right." Bass said, "I'll face these viruses. Arm Blade!" Two swords appeared. Bass rushed the group of viruses and slashed them apart with blinding speed.

Real World…

"As you can see, Bass easily terminated the viruses." Cossak said, "And that was with just one ability in Bass's arsenal. The best ability he has is the Get Ability program which allows him to absorb the data of anything he defeats."

"Cossak you fool!" A SciLab scientist yelled out, "Do you know what you've done?"

"What do you mean?" Dr. Cossak asked.

"If he is truly as powerful as you say, then you've created a monster!" the scientist yelled.

"I'm not a monster." Bass said sadly.

"I move that we delete this navi at once!" the scientist yelled.

"Hold on!" Dr. Cossak yelled, "You have no grounds to delete Bass."

"Call it a preemptive strike." The scientist said, "He has no one to control him. If he goes rouge, no one can deactivate him. And by absorbing data from defeated opponents he will simply grow stronger with every kill. We must delete him now!"

"I can assure you, Bass will not turn against us." Cossak said, "I programmed him. I gave him a mind, a conscience. He can distinguish right from wrong just like any human." The argument continued between Cossak and the SciLab scientist, as well as a few others, before an older scientist stood up.

"Alright, that's enough." The older scientist said.

"Doctor Tadashi Hikari!" Cossak said, "I didn't know you where here."

"Yes, I took a special interest in your project." Dr. Hikari said, "And while I don't believe Bass proves an immediate threat, I do believe he could prove dangerous if we do not carefully observe him. So we won't delete him, but we will have to keep a close eye on him."

"Thank you Dr. Hikari." Cossak said.

10 years later…

Bass was running through the cyber net panicked. Chasing him, a collection of official navis.

"Dr. Cossak, what's happening?" Bass asked trying to reach his creator. Unfortunately, he found himself in a dead end.

"Bass, you aren't going to escape." The head official navi said, "Do you have any last words?"

"What did I do?" Bass asked, "Cossak! What's happening?" After that cry, a depressed looking Cossak appeared on a holographic screen.

"Bass, I'm sorry, but we have to delete you." Cossak said, "They believe you are responsible for the problems on the internet."

"But, I'm not." Bass said, "You know that! Tell them!"

"I'm sorry Bass." Cossak said before the screen disappeared.

"Cossak! Cossak!" Bass yelled out.

"It is time to be deleted Bass." The official navi said as his arm changed into a sword, "I assure you, I take no pleasure from this." The navi sliced in an attempt to cut Bass in two, he pulled back in an attempt to dodge, but the blade still sliced into his navi crest causing him to collapse in pain. The navi then raised the sword for a final blow.

"Sir, it seems that we are needed elsewhere." One of the official navis said, "We have to leave him."

"Very well." The leader said, "He will self-delete soon enough. Let's go." Bass laid on the ground his chest burning with pain.

_He…he betrayed me. Cossak, the man I could think of like a father, _Bass thought, _he betrayed me! I'll show him, I'll destroy every human. _A mettaur came up and examined the navi to be quickly deleted and for his data to be absorbed by his killer. Bass then rose to his feet, a sudden surge of power flowing through him.

"Head my words Cossak, I _WILL _find a way to kill you." Bass said with anger coursing through him, causing his symbol to fade to pure black, "You may be able to run, but you can't hide!"

Author's note: I know I'm probably wrong with how long ago Bass was created, cut me some slack.


	2. The Four

**He Who Bears the Scar**

Chapter 2: The Four

Modern Day…

"You are all pathetic!" Bass yelled using his dark arm blades to carve through several Undernet navis, "Can none of you give me a decent fight?"

"Don't count us out yet!" An Undernet navi yelled hurling a cannonball at Bass, only to have him cut it in two followed by cutting the navi to pieces.

"Sir, we need to use the ultimate technique." One of the Undernet navis told the leader.

"You're right." The Undernet navis' leader said, "Gang, prepare for Hades Meteor!" Four other navis rushed to his side and summoned fireballs above their heads. The four fireballs merged into one above the head of the leader. "Say your prayers Bass!" The leader hurled the fireball at the rouge navi only to have him raise the life aura to protect himself.

"Finished yet?" Bass asked.

"The life aura?" The leader asked scared, "You were supposed to have lost that ability."

"I just lost the ability to leave it up permanently." Bass said as energy began to swirl around both hands, "But I still have it. As well as this one…Buster Rake!" Several energy bursts fired from Bass's hands and struck all the surviving navis. Unknown to Bass, four NetNavis were watching him from the shadows.

"It seems that your plan failed." One of the NetNavis said with a male voice.

"I never intended them to kill him." Another male navi said, "I was just hoping he would be to tired from the fight to fight us."

"The plan still failed." A female NetNavi said.

"Yes, I see that." The second male navi said.

"Just let me at him!" A third voice said, "I can take him!"

"No you can't." The first voice said, "He just killed twenty Undernet navis without breaking a sweat, even all of us together wouldn't stand a chance."

"At least, not yet." The second voice said.

"You say that like you have a plan." The female one said.

"Of course I do." The second voice said, "But let's retreats for now. I'll tell you my plan in the master's presence."

"BUT HE'S RIGHT THERE!" The third voice shouted, this time, the shouting was loud enough to draw Bass's attention.

"Who's there?" Bass asked summoning his two Dark arm blades. Before he was able to strike them, all four of the figures logged out as one.

Actual Cyberworld…

"Guts guts!" Gutsman yelled trying to catch Megaman under his fists.

"Come on Lan, have Megaman hold still." Dex complained.

"Oh come on Dex, where's the fun in that?" Lan asked, "Megaman, blast him!"

"Can do Lan." Megaman said as his arm changed the Megabuster, "He Gutsman, catch!" Megaman fired a powerful shot.

"Huh?" Gutsman asked as the shot hit him in the face, knocking him down and out.

"That makes this Lan's twenty-third victory today." Maylu said.

"And Lan's fifty second win this week." Yai said, "And it's only Tuesday."

"Ah shut up!" Dex said. Luckily, before Dex could continue complaining, a mass email was received by the gang.

"Uh guys, you'd better check that mail." Maylu, the first one to read the email said, "And Roll, you'd better jack out know." The others began to read the email. It said: _Attention all netbattlers, recently, a vast number of unexplained occurrences have been occurring on the net. We are asking all operators to refrain from jacking in to any electronic unless absolutely necessary._

"Man, I can't remember last time the officials told us not to jack in at all." Dex said.

"We're going to have to talk to Chaud about it if we see him again." Lan said.

Meanwhile, NetCity…

A group of ten official navis corned a NetNavi that looked like Sage Harpuia with one of his head fins as his navi symbol.

"Freeze!" one of the guard navis said, "Give yourself up or we will be forced to use deadly force."

"You foolish navis." The navi said, his eyes clouding over, "You don't stand a chance against me." After he said that phrase, a massive windstorm began. In a few seconds, the windstorm changed into a tornado, scattering the officials. Meanwhile, another ten official navis surrounded a NetNavi who looked like Fighting Fefnir with an inverted red triangle against a yellow background on his chest.

"If you attempt to resist capture, we will use lethal force." One of the official navis said.

"I hope you'll give me a decent fight at least." The navi said summoning two arm cannons, "Bring it on!" He then started firing off fireballs like crazy, causing massive damage the city. Another group of ten had battle chips active around a pool of water.

"Stupid boys." A female voice said from the water as a navi who looked like Fairy Leviathan with a blue seashell for a navi symbol created an ice platform to stand on, "You really shouldn't pick a fight with me around water." With a wave of her hand, Leviathan sent spears of water flying at the official navis, followed by massive water spouts burst from the water and crash into the navis.

"Protoman sir, we can't seem to apprehend these navis!" One of the officials said rushing to a larger ground under Protoman's command.

"I'm going in." Protoman said, "I'll get them."

"Are you sure you can?" The Wind navi said as he, the flame navi, and the water navi appeared in front of him, "We did just defeat ten of your men each."

"Trust me," Protoman said activating his sword, "I'm in a much higher league."

"And I am in higher league then my siblings." A voice said from a tall building. A navi which looked like Hidden Phantom with a four point shuriken as a navi crest jumped down from the tower landing in between the three navis and Protoman, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Phantom. The wind wielder is my younger brother Harpuia. The watery beauty is my younger sister Leviathan. And the hothead there is my younger brother Fefnir."

"He doesn't need to know who we are Phantom!" Fefnir yelled out, "He'll get deleted if he attempts to fight!"

"That's no reason the survivors shouldn't be able to spread our names." Phantom said, "So Protoman, how about a one-on-one fight?"

"How can I know you won't cheat?" Protoman asked.

"Huh, I guess you can't fully, but," Phantom said turning to his siblings, "Go back to the master, I'll handle him."

"Are you sure about this Phantom?" Harpuia asked, "I've heard he is incredibly strong."

"I'll be fine." Phantom said, "Now go, I don't want you three getting hurt."

"Very well." Harpuia said, "Be careful." The three other navis jacked out.

"You guys jack out too." Protoman said, "I don't want him to have hostages."

"Yes sir." An official said before they jacked out as well.

"Alright then Protoman," Phantom said, "Give me all you got."


	3. Cyber Showdown

**He Who Bears the Scar**

Chapter 3: Cyber Showdown

"Protoman, crave him up!" Chaud ordered his navi.

"Yes sir!" Protoman said charging Phantom preparing a slash.

"Pathetic." Phantom said easily dodging Protoman's sword, "Simply pathetic." Still in the motion of the dodge, Phantom swiveled and kicked Protoman in the stomach.

"Protoman, Step Sword!" Chaud ordered.

"Sir!" Protoman said as an image of him sliced Phantom in two, "Heh, guess he wasn't so tough."

"Protoman! Look!" Chaud said as the two halves of Phantom turned into a floppy doll version of the appropriate part.

"Too slow!" Phantom said in the air launching three four point shuriken with transparent blue energy blades straight for Protoman, who raised his shield which caught all three.

"I must admit that I wasn't expecting you to use battle chips." Protoman, "But I guess I should have expected a ninja navi to use Anti-Damage."

"Yes, but this is my own spin on it." Phantom said almost proud in his attack, "Look." Protoman looked at his shield to see all three blow up, knocking him back and shattering his shield.

"What was that?" Protoman asked, "What are you? Navis shouldn't be able to alter battle chips!"

"I don't see a reason to keep quiet." Phantom said, "Me and my siblings were made 20 years ago when the secret data Dr. Cossak used to create Bass was stolen from SciLab. We were manufactured using it and what we improved on Navi technology. As the oldest, our creators made me the most powerful. I have the ability to absorb raw data from battle chips to keep them as regular attacks. And as you have seen, I can combine the attacks with others I know. But enough talk." Phantom then put his hands together in a ninja style hand seal, "It's time to finish this." With blinding speed Phantom did several different hand signs until in a puff a smoke appeared. When it cleared, five Phantoms stood.

"Don't panic Protoman," Chaud said, "We can handle this. VarSword!" The hammerhead blade appeared on Protoman's arm. He swung the sword creating a read shockwave, but all the Phantoms scattered and easily dodged it.

"Is that really all the great Protoman has to offer?" One of the Phantoms said as the other four rushed him.

"Moon Blade!" Chaud yelled as his sent Protoman the Moon Blade Battle Chip allowing him to slash and destroy all the Phantom clones.  
>"Good move." Phantom said, "Most people try to run from that. Maybe I was a little hasty in attacking. I have an offer for you."<p>

"What are you talking about?" Protoman asked.

"I teach assassin navis the finer arts of combat." Phantom said, "How about you join me? You don't know much about analyzing an enemy, but you have such potential."

"And if I refuse?" Protoman asked.

"Well, if you refuse," Phantom said, "I'd have no choice but to kill you. But think about it. You could even surpass Shadowman."

"Shadowman was a student of yours?" Protoman asked.

"The best one I've had so far." Phantom said, "But you could be even better."

"Well, when you put it that way," Protoman said suddenly striking Phantom with the fighter sword, "I'm going to have to refuse."

"Such as shame." Phantom said pulling a katana with a semi-transparent blue blade from his back, "Then I guess I'm going to have to get serious."

"So are we." Chaud said, "Cyber Sword! Wide Sword! Long Sword!" The three sword battle chips were sent to Protoman, creating the life sword.

"A program advance." Phantom said barely scared, "I've always wanted to fight someone who could do that."

"Be careful what you wish for!" Protoman said as he swung the blade, its energy arc flying right for Phantom. The attack struck causing a large explosion, "Because sometimes they come true."

"And I'm thankful this one did." Phantom, unharmed from the attack, said. He held up his katana in a taunting manner and Protoman saw it was glowing before it returned to normal.

"How did you survive the life sword without a scratch?" Protoman asked shocked.

"Remember how I said I absorb chip data?" Phantom said, "I absorb them through combat. So by trying to kill me with that slash, you gave me the ability to do it anytime I want."

"Protoman! Jack out." Chaud ordered.

"No you don't." Phantom said suddenly in front of Protoman, his hand glowing green, "Jack out seal!" Phantom slammed his hand onto Protoman's crest knocking him back.

"Protoman! Jack out now!" Chaud hollered.

"I can't." Protoman said weakly.

"What do you mean?" Chaud asked confused.

"He means, he couldn't jack out even if he wanted to." Phantom said, "Short of me or some navi with expert healing skills removing it, he'll never jack out again. Now it really is time to end this." Phantom kicked Protoman against a wall and summoned a single shuriken which he hurled at Protoman. The shuriken became lodged in Protoman's shoulder, holding him to the wall. He then summoned another shuriken and began to performing several hand signs over it. The shuriken then began to change from blue to red to yellow to green and back to blue rapidly.

"What did you do to that shuriken?" Protoman asked.

"I super charged it." Phantom said, "Trust me, you, and every navi within a 10 yard radius, won't survive this." Phantom threw the shuriken into the wall next to Protoman, jumped onto the top of a building, and snapped his fingers. The super charged shuriken exploded in a blinding white light as Phantom logged out.

"Protoman!" Chaud screamed out, "Protoman!"


End file.
